Fallout 4 was initially released on November 10th, 2015. As of April 25th, 2024, there has been a new update. It seems rather strange for a game studio to release an update nearly 10 years after the game was released. Fans speculate it was an attempt to generate hype for the new Fallout TV show, which had released on April 10th, earlier that same year. The show was generally well received. The update, however, was first met with hostility as fans were quick to point out the issues it presented with. Bethesda was quick to address the concerns, leaving people with changes that were unexpectedly good. The “Next Gen” update was just about everything you could ask for in a new update.
The game can be purchased for $19.99 on PS4/PS5, Xbox One/ Series X, and Steam, and is included for free with the PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. The update is also included for free with the base game.
Story – Return of the Enclave
As a part of the new Fallout 4 update, additional missions were added to the game. These quests centered around the Enclave, a hostile faction that held precedence in the previous Fallout games but had yet to make an appearance in the fourth installment. In the previous game, the Brotherhood of Steel had essentially wiped out the main facilities of the Enclave. This forced them to cease all operations. Some of their remnants had later congregated and are now out to terrorize the Commonwealth. It is the Sole Survivor’s job to finish the rest of them off.
Although it canonically made sense to refrain from including the Enclave in Fallout 4, veterans of the game were delighted to see them resurface, even if only briefly. It was a pleasant little addition to the lore of the story, and it gave players more gameplay to enjoy. The new lore ended up being unexpectedly good. It was not simply tacked on to the end of it for the sake of adding something on to the successful game. It seemed to have been well thought out and meaningful.
Gameplay – Patches and Addendums
There were no major changes to the Fallout 4 gameplay itself. Players are still free to roam the Commonwealth and complete story and side quests as they see fit. The update resolved some issues with the start of the game. Some of these include players having trouble getting the door to Vault 111 open, progressing the first main story mission, and interacting with Codsworth. This is only a few of the many bugs and glitches which were addressed properly with the update.
Prior to the update players were having a myriad of bugs with Codsworth, ranging from missing game dialogue to finding him destroyed and incapable of interaction
DLC Fixes
Perhaps one of the largest issues with Fallout 4 prior to the update was the purchasable DLCs for the game. Upon purchasing and installing seemingly any combination of the available DLCs, the game would crash as soon as it was launched. Different players were struggling with the same issue, but for different DLCs. Besides that, once the appropriate DLCs were removed and the game was able to load properly, the DLC textures would appear bright purple or blue. This frustrating issue was taken care of with the new update. All of the DLCs run as smoothly as the vanilla game, and the textures blend right into the rest of the wasteland. This is yet another aspect of the game which turned out to be unexpectedly good.
New Gear
Moreover, there were a few additions to the available equipment in Fallout 4 for players to dally with. This includes some equipment brought over from the Enclave in the form of uniforms, armor, skins, and weapons. Besides the Enclave artillery, some less conventional weapons choices have been added to the game, such as the nail gun and piggy bank launcher. On a more aesthetic note, the workshop now also includes Halloween-themed decorations.
The game begins with a Halloween theme because the bombs dropped in October, so time has essentially frozen since then
Graphics – Improved Capabilities
Another one of the features of the new update was improved graphics and game stability. Fallout 4 released on older generation consoles, so the game was restricted to the parameters of PS4 and Xbox One. This is a common point brought up when comparing older games with their newer counterparts. Granted many of the drawbacks of the game were not necessarily because of the console itself. It was Bethesda’s notorious tendency to release glitchy, problematic games. Aside from that, the turnout was still unexpectedly good. The new update was meant to enhance the game quality to fit with the capabilities of the newer consoles, hence the title “Next Gen Update.” The game now supports 4K resolution, although there were some hitches with this feature when the update was first released.
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- One of the new weapons players can acquire from the enclave is the incinerator
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- The Enclave can first be found in a small outpost in which they have planted their classic Enclave flag
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- Once players defeat the Enclave soldiers they are able to take their armor and place it on their own Power Armor frame
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- The Far Harbor DLC consisted mostly of bright purple textures prior to the update whereas it now blends into the rest of the game
Fallout 4’s Next Gen Update was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
